Orlando and Ft. Hood the sites of two shootings within 24 hours

Two horrible acts within 24 hours

Two horrific shootings have occurred within 24 hours of each other, a Ft. Hood shooting and an Orlando shooting, both involving disgruntled workers. In both cases, the suspects were apprehended by authorities. It’s hard to tell whether horrible acts of violence are a product of an environment, or if they are just something that is part of the human animal. In any case, it would be worth some money now to figure out how to prevent incidents like these from occurring.

The Fort Hood Massacre

Major Nidal Malik Hasan received orders to deploy to Afghanistan. The career Army psychiatrist was a Muslim, and felt that because of his faith he was a target in the Army and in everyday life because of his religious beliefs. He also had a severe moral conflict with the U.S. waging war in Muslim countries, and voiced his concerns only to be derided and maltreated for it. On November 5th, he entered Fort Hood, one of the largest military bases in the United States, and opened fire on fellow servicemen and women in the early afternoon. By the time the shooting was stopped, thanks to the absolute heroism of a local police officer, 13 were dead, and 30 were wounded. One of the fatalities of his horrific spree was six weeks pregnant.

Authorities hail the bravery of Officer Kimberly Munley

Within 3 minutes of reports of shots fired, Officer Kimberly Munley entered the area of the shootings, and exchanged fire with Hasan. She was wounded in the exchange, but continued to fire, hitting him four times and stopping the rampage. As of today, according to USA Today, he is in a coma and on a ventilator. All but two of his victims are hospitalized.

Followed by Orlando Shooting less than 24 hours later

Earlier today, Friday the 6th of November, Jason Rodriguez was suspected of entering the offices of Reynolds Smith & Hills, on the 8th floor at the Gateway Center in Orlando, Florida, and opening fire. One person was killed, and 5 were wounded. A 911 call was made around 11 a.m., and officers responded. He was taken into custody without incident, when police went to his mother’s house where he was hiding. He was a former employee of the firm, though he was fired 2 years ago. Since then, he’d taken to working at Subway and had filed for bankruptcy. When asked by reporters why he committed the terrible act, according to CNN, he said they “left him to rot.”

Is this human nature? Or is this something cultures produce?

The social scientist Emile Durkheim, considered one of the fathers of sociology, postulated that the relative amount of disconnection that people feel, termed anomie, led to acts of crime, violence, or suicide, as a lashing out at the disconnection. Granted, Karl Marx was saying almost the same thing a decade or two prior, but that aside – desperation leads to desperate acts. One man seemed to resent the treatment by his peers and fellow soldiers, another was driven by the shame of the loss of a job and economic despair and bankruptcy. Obviously, there is never any excuse for violence, fatal or otherwise, unless in self defense – EVER. Let us hope that any money now going to investigations can shine some light on the causes, and hopefully the families of the victims can find some measure of peace.